I mean… seriously! One of the best pizzerias in LA now stocks vegan cheese and makes it available on all pizzas.

We vegans are getting so many good options these days! My omni friends have often raved about Pitfire Pizza, A local chain of artisan pizzerias serving top notch ingredients, prepared in that most coveted of pizzeria paraphernalia: A pitfire kiln, able to cook a pizza in searing temperatures over 900 degrees.

Once you’ve had a pitfire cooked pizza, you’ll not want to go back to the spongy crust of lesser pies!

With just four locations (North Hollywood, West LA, Downtown and Culver City), Pitfire Pizza seems to have focused on creating a quality product with individuality rather than rushing for scale, and I’m pleased to report that their vegan offerings maintain – and even enhance, an incredibly well thought out menu. Pitfire Pizza ain’t your typical pizzeria, in oh so many good ways. Here you’re dealing with familiar ingredients combined in a novel ways and cooked to perfection. The addition of vegan cheese (in the form of Daiya) elevates the experience for vegans (and health conscious vegetarians/omnivores alike) to something that’s every bit as good as the regular menu, yet 100% cruelty-free.

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over the summer i spent a fair share of my free time in downtown LA. there aren’t many vegan-friendly places in DTLA, let alone places you can go to late night on the weekends after a night of drinking. mac and cheeza became my go to because it’s affordable and open until 2am on fridays and saturdays. scooore!

back when mac and cheeza opened last february, i tagged along with qg to the soft opening. while i liked it back then, i thought the “cheese” tasted more like an alfredo sauce than a cheese sauce. WELL the cheese sauce has definitely improved since then and i found my winning combo of fixins – soy cheese, jalapeno and mushroom with the walnut topping. it’s tha fuckin’ BOMB.

baby mac with soy cheese, jalapenos, mushrooms and spicy toasted walnut topping. $7

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oh shojin, i love you to bits! but who doesn’t?! i think we all can agree that the modest restaurant located in the little tokyo shopping center in downtown LA is one of the best vegan places to eat in this city, with its constantly changing menu and always inventive japanese cuisine.

i hit up shojin recently with some friends, and as usual, the food was delicious. but i’m not here to tell you ONLY STUFF that you already know, i’ve also got news that shojin has added a new sushi roll to their regular menu. but more on that later, first let’s talk about our dinner!

spicy rock shiitake tempura: tempura shiitake mushrooms tossed in spicy wasabi mayonnaise. $6.95

we started with an order of the spicy rock shiitake tempura as an appetizer, because everyone is kind of obsessed with this dish…and you will be too once you try it. the small plate comes loaded up with little nuggets of breaded and fried mushrooms, all soaked in a scarily good spicy mayo-style sauce. holy shit guys, it’s unreal. no joke, everyone i know who has tried these has proclaimed them to be the “best mushrooms ever,” and i’m no different. there’s something about the crispy shell and the creamy mayo that makes these babies irresistible. trust me! order ’em!

spicy seitan bbq roll. $7.50 shiitake & avocado roll. $5.95

next, of course we got some sushi plates. shojin has by far the best vegan sushi in los angeles, and no visit to the restaurant is complete without a roll or two. pictured above are the shiitake avocado roll, as well as the spicy seitan bbq roll. the shiitake avocado is as you’d expect: rice tightly wrapped around big hunks of cool avocado and sliced mushrooms. what makes it special is the delicious marinade they soak the mushrooms in, as well as the added kombu cooked in soy sauce. the spicy seitan bbq roll is even better—shojin’s homemade wheat meat along with greens and kaiware sprouts mixed with spicy soy sauce and vegan mayo. i die!

clear shio ramen: simple, delicate and profound. sea salted. sweet vegetables, baby bok choy and mushrooms. $10.95

for my entree, i went with the clear shio ramen. the menu describes it as “simple, delicate and profound,” which is pretty accurate. in fact, this dish was a little too simple for my palate. the vegetables were fresh (i loved the kale!), and the noodles were spot on, i just found the broth to be a tad too basic for my taste. i chalk it up to a bad ordering decision—i should have gone with the “hot and spicy ramen” or the “creamy sesame ramen”, both of which sound divine. next time!

so, let’s talk about that sushi roll i mentioned earlier in the post. according to their twitter page, shojin recently added the MOTHER FUCKING DYNAMITE ROLL TO THEIR MENU! pay attention!

this roll started out as a special for shojin’s weekly sushi nights, and when i tried it, i was instantly smitten. it’s spicy mock tuna mixed with avocado, then wrapped in rice and topped with spicy mayo and green onion. seriously dude, seriously, the BEST VEGAN SUSHI I HAVE EVER HAD. i was ecstatic when i saw that shojin added this to the regular menu. so please, please, PLEASE go eat it and help keep it around. i’d hate to see this item axed due to low demand.

that’s about it, kids. in closing: shojin still rules as one of the best restaurants in LA. always order the spicy rock shiitake tempura, fill up on sushi, and get adventurous with your ramen choice. oh yeah, and THE DYNAMITE ROLL IS AVAILABLE. i’m done.

shojin
333 S. Alameda St. Suite 310
(Little Tokyo Shopping Center 3F)
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Tel: 213-617-0305

Monday, Tuesday
5:30pm – 10:00pm
Wednesday, Thursday
11:30am – 2:30pm,
5:30pm – 10:00pm
Friday
11:30am – 2:30pm
5:30pm – 10:30pm
Saturday,
12:00pm – 10:30pm
Sunday, Holidays
12:00pm – 10:00pm

UPDATE 5/26/10: we have a winner! the dozen cupcakes go to sampson, congratulations! check out sampson’s winning haiku:

downtown lights abound
cupcakes, loaves, and cakes astound
babycakes is here

thanks everyone for playing, and a HUGE thanks to babycakes for donating cupcakes! even if you didn’t win, you must go get some of there delicious treats from their downtown LA bakery!

FREE CUPCAKES! that’s right, it’s time for another giveaway! today’s contest comes courtesy of babycakes in downtown los angeles. our city’s only brick and mortar vegan bakery opened early this year and specializes in delicious organic treats, free of animal products and allergens. if you haven’t had a chance to try babycakes yet, this is a great opportunity.

this one is gonna be a lot of fun, because instead of just picking a winner at random, we are having a haiku contest! get creative and come up with haiku poem about babycakes, for the chance to win a dozen cupcakes. babycakes founder erin mckenna and i will be judging the poems, and picking a winner within a week.

here’s exactly what you need to do to win…

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We’ve probably written more about Purgatory Pizza in Boyle Heights than any other restaurant. Since it became the first pizza joint in California to carry Teese vegan cheese, we’ve been regulars at Purgatory. Add in several other vegan Pizza firsts: First to carry Field Roast sausage, Gardein “Chicken” and one of the first in the country to carry Daiya vegan cheese, and we’ve been visiting Purgatory constantly. It’s no surprise, then, that Purgatory is again ahead of the pack, as one of the first places on the West Coast to offer the brand new Teese vegan mozzarella, which we’ve raved about before.

A quick grounder and history in vegan cheese is probably worthwhile at this point…

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…because now you have no excuse! our favorite vegan-friendly pizza joint is open for lunch 7 days a week.

SEE YOU THERE? motherfuckers?

PURGATORY PIZZA. do it.